•Commission probes Oteh’s N30m hotel bill
TWO key actors in the N44 million fraud allegation rocking the House of Representatives – former Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Other Institutions Herman Hembe and his erstwhile deputy, Chris Azubogu - have confessed that they did not attend a workshop for which they got money from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Hembe and Azubogu told Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interrogators that they collected estacode from the SEC to attend a capacity building workshop in Dominican Republic but never did.
Their confession came on a day the EFCC launched a probe into the N30 million hotel bill allegedly incurred by SEC’s Director-General Ms. Arunma Oteh.
But the anti-graft agency is still trying to ascertain who between SEC and the House Committee actually initiated the N30 million bribe.
The two parties have persistently accused each other of initiating the scandal.
Hembe’s and Azubogu’s confessions were the highpoints of the interrogation of former House Committee members and Oteh.
The EFCC obtained a statement from Oteh last Thursday. It grilled Hembe, his deputy and three members of the committee, including the Clerk, Mr. Femi T. Ogunsanya, last Friday for about seven hours.
A source, who spoke on what transpired during the drilling of Hembe and the others, said there were “frank confessions”.
The source said: “Hembe and his deputy admitted that they were sponsored by SEC to Dominican Republican for a capacity workshop but could not attend. They also confirmed that they collected all allowances accruable for the four-day capacity training.
“Hembe said he travelled to the United States (U.S.) and by the time he arrived in the U.S., he realised ‘I will miss the conference. I informed SEC and returned home’.
“Azubogu also admitted that he did not attend the workshop in Dominican Republic but he collected the estacode.
“Azubogu said although he did not use the air ticket, he got the accruing allowance from SEC.”
Asked why he did not return the estacode, said the source, Azubogu told the interrogation team: “I collected estacode for the workshop but I did not go…I was expecting SEC to demand the return of the estacode before I do so. It is still intact with me…’
But there are more hurdles ahead for Hembe as his trip to Dominican Republic has forced the EFCC to raise fresh posers.
The posers, according to the commission’s source, are: “How did Hembe route his ticket? Shouldn’t his ticket take cognisance of the days set aside for the workshop? Is it necessary for Hembe to fly to Dominican Republic through the U.S.? Assuming he preferred to go to Dominican Republic through U.S., why did he arrive in the U.S. late?
“We will certainly re-examine Hembe’s itinerary, stamps on his passport, flight schedule and movement in the U.S. I think we may still interact with Hembe after meeting with travel agency and SEC staff.”
The source explained that a major challenge of the probe is getting to the roots of which of the party actually initiated the bribe scam.
The source went on: “We are talking to other staff to see at what stage the bribe was demanded. Each party is accusing the other of initiating the bribe. We will certainly unravel who made the request. Investigation can lead to any direction; we are conducting it with an open mind.
“We have invited more staff of SEC to appear before our investigation team on Monday. We have interacted with the Clerk of the House Committee and other staff. We will get to the root of how the bribe was offered.”
Responding to a question, the source said: “The EFCC has granted Hembe, his deputy and the staff of the committee administrative bail.
“But we have asked the House Committee to bring documents; we are awaiting their response.”
On Oteh, the source said: “We took her statement on Thursday, based on her bribe claim but she needs to also respond to counter-allegations from Hembe and others. So, we may still take more statement from her.
“But we have started probing the N30 million she allegedly incurred on hotel bill. That is another vital angle to the row.
“The EFCC has retrieved some documents relating to Oteh’s hotel and feeding bills. More SEC employees have also been invited for questioning.”
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